High speed binary counter



April 6, 1965 5 E. G. WAGNER 3,177,474

HIGH SPEED BINARY COUNTER Filed Jan. 28, 1959 4 sheets-sheet 1 I I z z T- /5 I l l l l l l I l I l l l l. i

A95 Se 5'2 6/ I5 I4 I3 I2 l/ 670e@ ca-e ELEMENT: jf K 1 2 l 0 V V V V Jr Jig 3f Z 6P, CP2 P3 P4 (P/ P2 1%- INVENTOR Erhlt/'agua TME P- ATTORNEYS April 6, 1965 E. G. WAGNER 3,177,474

HIGH SPEED BINARY COUNTER Filed Jan. 28, 1959 H 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 WXYZW g5 www# A ORNEY April 6, 1965 E. G. WAGNER 317 7,474

HIGH SPEED BINARY COUNTER Filed Jan. 28. 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR April 6, 1965 E. G. WAGNER HIGH s'PEED BINARY COUNTER Filed Jan. 28, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 I I I I I I I I l I IIII IIII.. IIII IIII INVENTOR E142' (i Wague@ BY @www ATTORNEYSI United States Patent Oli ice 3,177,474 Patented Apr. 6, 1965 3,177,474 HIGH SPEED BINARY COUNTER Eric G. Wagner, New York, NX., assignor to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, NY.,

a corporation of New York Filed Jan. 28, 1959, Ser. No. 789,608 21 Claims. (Cl. 340-174) stages do not all simultaneously relect the changed count,

inasmuch as a carry pulse between two higher order stages will occur after a carry pulse between two lower order stages. While a ripple carry may be advantageous in certain kinds of circuitry, such as that containing vacuum tubes, its use in counter circuitry which contains logical elements having a one time unit delay, such as magnetic cores, can be very time consuming. For example, in an n bit counter, a ripple carry from one end to the other would take n units of time.

Therefore, one object of the invention is to provide a binary counter having no carry pulses between stages.

Another object of the invention is to provide a binary counter whose stages simultaneously reflect a changed count.

A further object of the invention is to provide a high speed binary counter comprising a segment net having a minimum of interconnected logical elements and also having inputs and outputs, a complementing storage element associated with each segment net output and having one input and one output, means connecting the outputs of said segment net to the inputs of their associated storage elements, means for applying a count signal to one of said segment net inputs, and means for applying selected output signals of said storage elements to the rest of said segment net inputs other than said one segment net input. y Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in

which:

FIGURE 1 is a simplied schematic diagram of the high speed binary counter;

IFIGURE 2 is a timing diagram showing the operation of the counter;

FIGURES 3a and 3b together show one form of one unit delay AND elements which may be used in the present invention;

FIGURES 4a and 4b together show another form of one unit delay AND elements which employ magnetic cores;v

FIGURE 5 shows one form of a dynamic flip-dop ystorage element;

lFIGURE 6 shows another form of a dynamic flip-Hop storage element employing magnetic cores;

FIGURE 7 shows an alternative form of a magnetic kcore dynamic flip-dop storage element.

Y scopeot the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

`FIGURE 1 shows a simplied schematic diagram of aS-stage S-input binary counter employing the principles of the invention. Storage elements 10 to 14 each contain one binary bit value which may be stored in either static or dynamic form. Each storage element must have the property of being complemented each time a pulse appears on its only input lead I. Thus, if a storage element contains a zero binary bit, an input pulse to said storage element 4will cause a 1 binary bit to be stored therein. Vice versa, an input pulse to a storage element in the binary 1 state will cause that element to change to the binary 0 state.

The inputs to storage units 16 to 14 are generated by a logical segment net 15 having inputs A1 to A5, outputs S1 to S5, and logical elements B1 to B5, C1 to C5, and D1 to D5 which are arranged in levels. A segment net generally may be dened as a circuit with n inputs A1, A2, An, and n outputs S1, S2, Sn, such that signals simultaneously appear on the S1 to Sk outputs it and only if signals have simultaneously appeared on inputs A1 to Ak. The logical elements, which are AND elements having 1 or 2 digital inputs, as shown, plus a clock pulse input, not shown; each being characterized by a one unit delay, are connected to inputs A1 to A5 and to each other so that the outputs of the elements in the B level are connected to inputs of the elements in the C level, and so on as shown, while outputs @f1 to 0.1 or" the storage elements are fed back to inputs A2 to A5 ot the segment net 15. Input A1 of segment net 115 is the count input lead, wherein a count of l is added to the counter each time a count pulse appears thereon.

Each AND element must have a l-unit delay between ,the input and output signals associated with each element.

A storage element can also have such a delay, and in the Vpresent embodiment, it does. The time interval between any two successive count pulses on count input leads A1 can he no less than the time required for output leads 01 to l5 to deect the changed count occasioned by the first of said two successive pulses. Since each of the B,

C, D, and storage levels of FIGURE 1 provides a 1-unit delay, the minimum time interval between two successive count pulses is therefore the sum of four unit delays in this particular embodiment of the invention. The count period of the counter is now defined to be this minimum time interval.

The operation of the circuit shown in FIGURE 1 will now Ibe described in connection with FIGURE 2, which shows a timing diagram wherein the action of each logical and storage element is shown with relation Vto discrete intervals of time during the counting operation. "For purposes oi' explanation, count pulses appear on input A1 at the beginning of a count period although it should be appreciated that they can arrive at almost any interval which is greater than a count period. The count period used ywith the present embodiment of the invention is made up' or contains four unit delays, and in FIGURE 2, each vof these time delays is denoted by w, x, y and z. It w-illl'lbe assumed that the initial condition of fthe counter is zero, that is, no output signals appear on outputs 91 to 05 of the storage elements 10 to 14.` When a count pulse appears upon input A1 at the beginning of a wtime delay within a count period, only AND element B1 Iwill give an output at the beginning of the x-time delay after a l-unit delay, since AND elements B2 and B5 do not have -all the necessary inputs. AND element C1 responds to theoutput of AND elements B1 andgives an output signal at y-time. Furthermore, AND element D1 also gives an output signal at z-time on segment net output S1 in response to the signal appearing on the output lead from C1. It should be 'noted that since none of the AND elements B2 to B5 have genera-ted an output signal, then none of the AND elements C2 to C5 and D2 to D5 are able to pass signals from segment netv outputs S2 to S5 to thel inputs I2 to I5 storage elements 11 to'14.

o Y Y v e A u However, A'ND element B1 does eventually provide an Y as a level), where N is the smallest integer greater than input signal to storage elementi() which complementsrtheV number previously standing therein, thus changing the count in storage element 10 to a binaryv 1 representation.vv

The' delayed output signal tfromrstorage elementy v10 re` ectin-g new countappears onV outputf01 justin time to be impressed upon inputlead A2 of 5 the segment net at the beginning of the-,next count period. If another count of l is'being added inthissuccess-ive count period,

Vas is shown in FIGURE -2,'then both AND' elements lB1 and B2 will be energized-and each will emit a vpulse at x-t-ime ater a l-unit delay.'V Again, AND elementsB3 to B5'Wi1l notY be energized-because Vof missingainputs.

Thist-ime, however, bo-thlAfND'elements C1 and C2`wi1l l emit pulses, at` the beginning of yHtime, to AND elements D1 and D2.Y 'The bina'ryl bit'which previously had been stored in storageelement by! the preceding countfpulse` will now kbe complemented by the outputsignal '-onrS1 .Y fromY ANDfeleme'nt `D1, thus changing the count instore ageelernent 10 .to a binary zero; On the other hand, the

output signal from AND element D2 willV place a binary lbit into storage` element Y11.V The binary `counter now contains the decimal number 2 derived byY adding together the decimalvalues associated with ,each of the binaryaele- 2,4, 8 and v16, respectively. Y r Y A third countV pulse Willcomplement only storage-elef nien-t 10, leaving storage unit 1-1` inits previous binary 1 condition. AND elements B1 and'B2 since there is also an input on input lead A2 from 01. w Furthermore, AND element B3`is also activated'at'th-is time becauseA of inputs on input leadsV ments 10 to 14, which have fthe decim l signiiicance offl,l

A2 and A3, the latter coming Yfrom 02. 'Y ThereforeQAND elements C1 through 'C3 andAND elements D1, through D3 will also be activated inthe-proper sequence.'v Since the contents offstorage elementsk 1 Athrotighare nogw The fourth j input countpulse will activate;

ior Vequal lto logrn. Each level will contain n logical A-ND elements, and thus fthe; whole segment net will contain n N logical elements. Thus, in FIGURE 1 there are n==5 inputsA1 to A5, a set .of interconnected logical AND elements B1 to D5, each containing up to r-'2 information signal' inputs, Vand N=3 levels BgCand D','.where 3 isthe smallest integer greater than'orequal'to log25. @Further more'there are five logical AND elements -on each ofthe three levels, and no logical element drivesmore than two other logical elements. Y

The logical ANjD elements inthesegrnent net areinfclconnected according to the following formula: Let Hk represent a logical elementy contained in the' nth level (of ariN levelnet) at the Vkth 4bitposition (of an n bit input net, where H1, -H2-,V: .'Hgf are arranged from right to left since it is Vconventional to, have the low rvorder fbit tothe right). Furthermore let G1'1 representa logical n elementr in thepreeeding (m-2l)thlev,el; or'where the mth levelfis taken to be the iirstlevel of; anet, then Gk xlogical element `mustthenbe`- connected tov outputs-from logical ,elements the Hk logical element, however, cannot exceed the value B01-fof the smallest integer greaterthan jor equal to Vthe value jot-k/rrml, andaof course,y in noV case must the number Y jofvinputstoV a logical element exceed the valueof r.

complemented by input pulsesl from elements D1thr'ough D2, the count in these ystorage elements changes Yfrom 011 tol 100, which is decimal-4. VThe mannerV in which further; Y'

counts are added to the *binarycountershown in FIG-QV URE l is now. deemedgtor be obvious from .the preceding discussion and from 'FIGURE 2.;

It willrnow beseen that the advantages iloffnolcarlry 7 ripple timefandsimultaneous change ofthebinarystages accrueffrom ythe 'use' of an input' segmentne't in Vcon@ junction with complementingstorage nelements.. "Ihisris due to the, factv that a lcount of' 1A may,I be addedto Aa binary number, by fthe rotev processor' simultaneously f lcomplementing all lofv thenonfzrerro (lorflf) `bits Vstarting trom thelowe'stl orderrofV the numberY up to and including the iirst zero bit reached.. For'example, a il. count 'added to the, binary number '.lld-ltwhich is decimali-23) 1e-V sults inthe-rst three l 'bitsf from the v rightand the 0 bit generated according tohow manysuccessive vv1 bits. are

contained in '1. the -V previous Ybinary, number- 1 u segment 'net are'interco nnectedy will, now'bejdescribed' with As'stated 4be-forea segment net'is a circuit withnjjrnauts'y A1', A2,* .A An',' 'and n outputs S1, S2j. S11, such that the VS1to Sk outputs corneon if only'fit :all ,the inputs. from A1 to Akwaregon'. iltjcornpr-ises: a Vset of interconnected logical elements such aslogical AND1v elements, each ,hav-k ingr lor less information .,signalrinput's" o Y lEach..Ysuclilo'gical f AND element must Y'also:'provide'rr aron'elunitgtime delay andeachfmust be able to drive atleastr'otheiffelernents1- f These' logical. ANDI elements b e arranged'in afgroup PN ltYlS (111? inputs 19413@ segiueinarget'donct count to theV value of k/rm-l.

` The embodiment shownin-FIGURE Il Ycan now be l Yanalyzed in light oftheabovedescri'bed criteria. As stated before, the segment net there shown consists ofnn=5 inputs (A1 to A5), 'and the maxirnurnfnumber of r inputs to any Ione logical ANDl yelement vis 2.y The rst vmth level `toi be considered is ftheBft'o B5level, where mr=l.

TheA (m4-Utl; leveltheretore` consistsofinputs A110 A5. Since the general'formula requires thatHkbe conresults in gB1 beingY c'onnected'to A1, A0,`A1, etc. But

vlower thanjA1, there/obviously can beno inputs to B1 oftherthan-from A1. The elements :B2 is connectedrto A2, A2 2lL-1, A2 2 21-1, etc.,'-which when simplied, results inl32rconnected only to`A2and A1. VThe aboverintercon- Y Vrnections of 'B11andfB2 also satisfy'thefse'cond criterion in that the number of inputs to each does not exceed the value'y of VVthe smallest-*integer kgreater 'than or equal y Thus; for B1, this value is l/21"1'=1/ 2=1',,andrfor 4B2, vrtliisfvalue isi/214:2.

being complementedfthus givingjan-,answep of 1000A j 1 Still remembering'thatv m=1 v(since the AB1 to `B5 level 1s The segment netloutputsprovide the necessary numberfo@ Y these` simultaneousl 'complementing pulses, since. theyf are words,.toV A3, A2, and A1. However, no'logica'l AND element canfhave more than {,=2'inputs, even though the Themse er inwhi h theiogi'algeiementswnnin the expresslrin apparenuy'permts's to hay? I inputs. Thus, B3 can only be connected to'A3 'and A2.

ByisiinilarfreasoningaB4 isconnectedflto A4 and A3, vwhile Bsis connectedtoA5 and A4? l if "Since, lthejnumber ofNplevelsinecessarylinja segment `net (having n inputsrandwhichrutiliz'es logicalAND ele,-V

-ments Aeach having'a maximum?ofjfinputsjiless) is equal r 'tof thesmallesty integer; greater zthan'aor vequal ftoglogr'n,

then the present embodimentj.requiresfthat VN="3,`since Y log'2e52 It' isfsen," thereforezthatftwo more f 3 5-etc., do notexist, C1can yonlyfrfeceive an input from `1311;!"Element .C2 Aisf?connected-Qonly toB'2, whileelement signal' to be provided for each such level.

rC3 is connected to B3 and B3 2 (or, in other words, to B1). Element C4 is connected to B4 and B2, While element C5 is connected only to elements B5 and B3, since it cannot have more than r=2 inputs.

l structure, the Sk output of a logical AND element in the last level of the net is connected to a kth complementing storage element, whose output tik in turn is fed back to an input Ak+1. The pulse to be counted is fed into the irst input A1 of the segment net.

A segment net constructed according to the abovedescribed general formulas will have the following valuable properties:

(l) All of its outputs occur simultaneously.

(2') It provides the fastest possible circuit time between application of inputs and occurrence of simultaneous outputs that can be obtained when using logical AND circuit elements with unit delay.

y(3)y It is the most minimal circuit with simultaneous output that can be built from logical AND elements with a maximum of r inputs, i.e., it contains the least number of such elements.

(4) No logical element in the circuit will have to drive more than r other logical elements, where r is the maximum number of inputs that an element can have.

A binary counter utilizing a segment net in which the i AND elements have no inherent delay will still be operi able, providing the count pulse and the storage element y feedback outputs are synchronized. However, it will not necessarily have any minimal properties if constructed as described above. The principal advantages of the circuitry occur when one is restricted to the use of AND elements having an inherent unit delay and a limit on the number of inputs allowed.

FIGURES 3 and 4 show two alternative embodiments of one unit delay AND logical elements. In FIGURE 3a,

a hemisphere containing a dot represents a logical AND gate requiring at least two information signal inputs together with a clock pulse timing signal CP in order to generate an output signal. Such AND gates may be composed of diodes, vacuum tubes, or the like, as is well known in prior art. The element may also contain an f amplification stage if so desired, depending upon the engineering requirements. Several phased clock pulse signais for a combination of AND gates are provided such as are shown in FIGURE 3b. n CP1, for example, occurs ahead of CP2, which in turn occurs ahead of CP3. CP1 then repeats itselfragain and the cycle continues in the described manner. If AND gates are connected in series, such as is shown in FlGURE 3a, and each is supplied with a different clock pulse signal, then an output pulse from Y Y an AND gate which is the result of the logical combination of two or more information input signals will not be generated until the associated 'clock pulse signal arrives. This results in a time delay between the input and output signals of an AND gate. The output signal of AND gate 20, yfor example, arrives aty one vof the information signal inputs of AND gate 21 at time CP1, neglecting any inherent delay in the gate due to stray capacitances, etc.

; The other information signal input to AND gate 21 also arrives at time CP1. However, an output signal from ANDy gate 21 cannot be generated .until CP2 occurs thus creating another delay in ther series chain of AND gates.

' Thus the time delay between input and output signals from an AND gate can be considered as a unit delay. Where,

for example, the number of N levels in a counter segment net is not more than` four or five, then-practical engineerfing considerations would permit a different clock pulse The period of any one of the phased clock pulse` signals is then considered to be the count period of the counter, and the time interval between successive count input pulses on input lead A1 of FIGURE 1 cannot be'less than a clock pulse period or a multiple thereof.

FIGURE 4a shows AND logical elements with unit delays which employ magnetic cores. Only a simple schematic is shown, since the engineering requirements to perform the hereinafter described function of each unit are by now well known in the art. Enclosed block 31 is an AND clement having a unit delay, which includes a magnetic core 32 having an input 33 from some well known AND gate 35 which itself has two or more information signal inputs. Because of the inherent nature of magnetic material, information from .the AND gate 35 is rst read into core 32 during a B-phase time, after which a read pulse at an A-phase time is applied thereto in order to transfer information therein to the input 36 of a succeeding serially connected AND element 37. All other information signal inputs to element 37 also arrive at A-phase time. The logical AND combination of these input signals is almost simultaneously stored in magnetic'core 38. At the next B-phasc time, information is then read from core 3S out into a further succeeding AND element,` or to a storage element. The relationship of the A and B-phased read pulses is shown in FIGURE 4b, and it is seen that each alternates with the other or, in other words, each is shifted in phase 180 from each other. It should be noted that since the inputs to core 32 of AND element 31 arrive in B-phase time, there is a time delay between these input pulses at B-phase time and the output pulses on 34 at A-phase time. The same is true with the A-phase inputs to AND element 37 and the B-phase output signal therefrom. This time delay is considered to be a unit time delay for purposes of utilizing such AND elements in a counter segment net.

FIGURES 5, 6 and 7 show various forms of complementing dynamic storage units which may be used in the present invention. FIGURE 5, in particular, shows one form of a complementing dynamic iip-ilop circuit using a conventional OR gate 42 and INHIBIT gates 40 and 41 compri-sed of diodes, vacuum tubes or the like. This circuit is considered to be in the binary l state if a pulse is circulating in the loop consisting of the delay line 43 and its serially connected input gates 41 and 42. If there is no pulse circulating in this loop then the circuit is in the binary zero state. Inhibit gate can initiate this recirculating pulse if there are input signals on both 44 and 46, together with the absence of a signal on 45. Conversely, inhibit gate 41 can only generate an output signal, thus maintaining the re-circulation of this pulse, if there are input signals on 45 and 45, together with the absence of a signal on 44. OR circuit 42 passes any signal appearing on either 47 or 4S. Input lead 46 has a phased clock pulse signal CP applied thereto for purposes of timing, and this clock puise also provides a unit delay between the input signals to gates 40 and 41, and the output signal at 49. The delay line 43 is of such a length as to provide the entire loop with a delay equal to one cl-ock pulse period so as to return the re-circulating pulse to lead 45' in time for it to be regenerated. In operation, a properly phased input signal on lead 44, when no pulse is being circulated in the loop, will cause inhibit gate 40 to generate a pulse which is placed into the delay line 43 by OR gate 42. The iiip-flop has thus been placed into its binary l state. As long as no further count pulse appears on input lead 44, the pulse re-circulating in the loop will continue to do so, since inhibit gate 41 can regenerate same due to the absence of signal 44. If, however, a count pulse appears on lcad 44 at the same time that the re-circnlating pulse appears on lead 45, then neither inhibit gate 40 or 41 will generate a signal, thus stopping the re-circulation and changingthe dynamic iiip-flop to its binary zero state.

FIGURE 6 shows a form of a dynamic flip-.iiopv employing magnetic cores. The circuits in block 51 perform an EXCLUSIVE OR function, which involves the generation of an output signal at 52 -in response to the application of an input signaleither at 53 or 54, but not .levels contained inthe segment net.=;

n e components both.V Theinputsignals at '53 or stwiu .be applied at s* B-phase time and the Yresult'stored kin core '58.'.A Gates`55; 56 and v57 performrthe same function as explained inconfromxcore 5.8 atA-phaseytime into block l59,`vvhich'is essentially al-inpnt VOR circui't'employing a.single'core. f Y 60. The .core`60 isV then read at B-phase time and its out-V Y nection withFIGURE 5. This stored resultisthenread put is connected to input 54 of block V51. TheiA and B` phased read-out, signals are inthe same relationship as isY shown in FIGURE 4b. FIGURE 7 shows an alternative form of a magnetic core dynamic complementing dip-tipp. vAt a'B-phase time, an

mentsand in the storageelements are various and should 'not belimited to those; embodiments particularly shown I in thegu'res.V The timing requirements have also been Voutlined and shouldprove of no diiiiculty to one skilled in jthe art inconstructinga modicationof the circuit.

Iclaimz. 7 5 Y V41. In'afhighspeed binary counter, a gating system comprising. an array of'.interconnectedrlogicjelementsarranged in a matrixof channels V'andrlevelsg a pluralityof inputs pertaining `to respective ones yofsaidchannels and congnected vonly/co the logic elements of the'lowestlevel in the respective `channels;'a. plurality o f outputsfconnected' only .input signal onr lead 7.1 in the absencerof'a' signal on lead .Q

72 will cause circuit .73 tolemit a pulse Vat the following. A-phase timeto the ORV gate y75 which stores itin core.

76.' This pulse is kept circulating in the loop comprising l* circuits 72 and 77 as longas no further` input pulses .ar-

f meer 14, 1957 inl bai-nfv of LA. Kauffman and` newv Y abandoned, ,andr Serial No. 692,131, ledlO'ct'ober 24, f 1957 and noW'Patent No.' 3,090,036 in behalf of l. A. 1

Kauffmann, may be utilized in the counter by` one vskilled intheart. v. Y' Y Y I A formof static .binary bit storage may also beV employed as .the storage element inthe present invention.V

For example, the Eccles-Jordan scale-of-2 'complementto logic elementsof thehighestleveLdn the'relatin of J one output forseachr, channel ofjthearray of logic elements ;ja numberof complementing storageelements ina f series proceeding fromlower to higher (significance, there being oneof said storage elements Vfor eachv of said outputs of 'the gating system, eachq'offsaidistorage elements 'having an input and an output; means connecting the outputs of said gating.systernntotheinputs of the respective Y storage elements;,me.ans for applying a. count signal toran Vinputof the gatingfsystem connected to the lowest level logic element of the channel associated with'the least signiicantone of said storage. yelerr 1ents,.and meansfor-connecting the outputs ofsaid storagev elements respectively to'inputs oflsaid `gating vsystem-pertaining to rchannels f Ywhich relatetostorage elements of respectively higher significance.V Y f 2. A high speedbinary vcounterzasdeiined in claim l, Whereineach Vof the inputs to :said gating system is connected to the lowest levellogic devices of two adjacent ing iiip-opshown in" FIGURE l9-1'5.in Electron-Tube Circuits by s. see1y,pub1ishedin 195o by the MeoraW-Y;

Hill Book Company, Inc., may be rused toV receive' the output pulses-fromthe segment net. Thiswell known circuit consists of two. cross coupled tubes, withV a pulse on a single input lead rcausing these tubes to change state. If the output of this storage 'iiip-opris required to be timed VWithA a count'signal arriving. at a segment niet input, lthenY a simple read gate may-beattached ,toV said output.

It is important to remember that a'n output from a storv Vage element in the segment net binary counter mustappear -at the segment net inputs in the same phase asf-the county v f input pulse appearing von the rst segment net input. This is because theVAND logical'elements contained in the seg- .ment netare operated by the sir'nult'aneousapplication ofi` l input signals tothei inputleads. fFurthermor'e, itshould be noted-thatthere may be times thatsignalsfrom storage i units appearatthe segment net inputs A2 to Ak when there n This situations-f;

is not'input count signal appearing onv A1. n Y Y can prevail if countV impulses are not presented "to the counter in successive count'periods; or ifa magneticcore Y` s dynamic tiiplop circuit is,v being Vutilized as a storage ele.

ment.` It is seen that the magnetic core ip-flopcircuits shown YinfFIGURES 6 and 7 will vproduce .an output* sig-. Y a nal at every-'A and B phase, respectively; ifjthey are in their '1,l stategr-.although the.r count period `ofgaf particular- 'Y counter mayinclude manyjrepetitionsof .thejzA and'B- phase clock signals, fde'pending ponthelnumber'of Howeven 'the' fact a dynamic'bistable deviceff v that some of the AND logical elements. inthe rsttew levels of the'segrnent net may-.thus generate outputsignals Y.

in response toinputv signals comingffrom thestorage'unit-,I`

isv of no importance, since Vany such' generated .signalscanfV noty possibly :produce outputs fromjthelast levelofjla; segment netwithout;thereihavingbeena count'irnpulse signalv onseguientvnetinput'Aff' Various other modiiications Vof' both-.the segment Jnet and storage elements'can obviouslyv` be madezwithoVutjde'v parting from: the-scope of the invention.: As' notedbey i s withrsignalinformation inputsirnaybe cnstrl'cted'usinfg the i principles i hereinbeto're idescribedl' Furthernore;the 1 can be usediu the. logical-1,rNDele-V 4 ,--mgV an equal .nunib'eri of circuits, saldsegmentnet inputs beingconnected .only tothe AND* circuitsof one terminal level and gsaidisegment'net.outputs .being conamendes.,

channels. Y l .Y

3. A high-speedjbinary kcounter in accordance with claim y1 inwhich each complementing storage element is a static bistable devicel` i Y 's A VVLA high-speed binary counterin accordancer'with claim 1 in' which each complementing storage element is i a dynamic bistable device.V

. 5.. A high-speedv binary `counter'in `'accordance I.with claim 4 in which each dynamicY bistable storage :element includes magnetic coresas components thereof.

6. Ahigh-speedbinary counter comprising in combination a gating system having a group of inputsand a group of outputs, thegnumber ot'inputs being thesame as the number of outputs; Ya group of complementing storage 'elements Veachhaving'o'ne input ando'ney output, the numberof storage elements being-the same as thel number of gating .system outputsymeans tor-connecting each gating system output to the inputof arelated oneof said storage elementxmeanslfor applyingacount; signal to one of said gatingsysteminputs; and'means, for connecting V,all but rone'orf the storage --element outputsA to ,the4 rest' of said gating system inputsin a"1;-`to-.1 correspondence;

.7LQA1fhigh-speedbinary counterA inV accordanceV with 'claim 1 6 in y'which .each complem y A u ntingstorage element is aistatiev bistable device.' A ji f. .f 1 8`. "A high-speed binary .countera in accordanceV with claim 6 in vr-whicheach complementary-stcra'ge velement is claimKS. in dynamic bistable Astorage element magnetic @resasegmpgnenfsthefeef- 'i Vsegment net alsoY hay'inga "group `of, inputs equalinnurnber toa group ofoutputs-there'frorm vsaid logical circuit A, `elementsgcorisistingfof.Qneunit delay AND circuits which y faire arranged infaV plurality Yof: channels, each comprising .an'equal number ofi-serially connected ANDciruits, the

AND. circuits ofY` alloty the ehannelsb'eingV thereby aligned across {thechannelsin Vra plurality o'flevels, each contain- 'highfspsedbnary munter Compnsns'a Segment' Ygnet,hayinginterconnectedlogical. circuit elements, said V65,N v i nected only to the AND circuits of the other terminal level; a group of complementing storage elements each having an input and an output, there being one storage element input connected to each of said segment net outputs, means for applying a count signal to one of said system, said system being divided into a number of n signal channels, each channel having a plurality of logical elements serially connected, the logical elements in the same positions in all of said channels dening corresponding levels, means further connecting selected elements in one channel at one level thereof to selected elements of another channel at a different level thereof, a complementing storage element associated with each of said signal channels, means for applying a count signal to selected elements of one terminal level, means connecting outputs of logical elements defining the other terminal level to said associated storage elements, and means to connect selected outputs of said storage elements to the remaining logical elements deiining said one terminal level.

15. A high-speed counter in accordance with claim 14 in which said logical elements in said gating system consist of one unit delay AND circuits, each of said AND circuits having a maximum of r inputs thereto.

16. A high-speed counter in accordance with claim 15 in which each level of said gating system is defined by an equal number of one unit delay AND circuits.

17. A high-speed counter in accordance with claim 16 in which the number of levels in the gating system is equal to the smallest integer greater than or equal to the value of logrn.

18. A high-speed binary counter in accordance with claim 17 in which each complementing storage element is f a static bistable device.

19. A high-speed binary counter in accordance with claim 17 in which each complementing storage element is a dynamic bistable device.

20. A high-speed binary counter in accordance with claim 19 in which logical element and storage element includes magnetic cores as components thereof.

21. A high speed binary counter comprising a gating system having inputs and outputs, said gating system consisting of logical elements, Said elements each having at least one information input and being arranged in a plurality of channels and levels according to the formula N :lo grn Where N is the total number of levels (the smallest integer equal to or greater than logrn) r is the number of information inputs to each logical element n is the total number of channels said information -inputs of individual logical elements Hk from selected levels and channels being interconnected to the outputs of logical elements Gk, Gk-rm-, Gk-zrm-l, Gk-arm*1 Gk rm+,m-1 (where these G elements exist) where m is the particular level selected Hk is the selected element in the mth level of the N level system k is the channel in the selected level in the manner of increasing order from right to left G is the logical element in the preceding (m-1) level a group of complementing storage elements each having an input and an output, means connecting the outputs of said gating system to respective inputs of said storage elements, means for applying a count signal to one of said gating system inputs, and means for applying selected output signals of said storage elements to the rest of said gating system inputs other than said one gating system input.

References Cited by the Examiner UNlTED STATES PATENTS 2,828,477 3/ 58 Lanning 340-174 2,884, 625 4/59 Kippenhan 340-174 2,894,684 7/ 59 Nettleton 340-147 2,962,212 11/60 Schneider 23S-92 IRVING L. SRAGOW, Primary Examiner.

EVERETT R. REYNOLDS, Examiner. 

6. A HIGH-SPEED BINARY COUNTER COMPRISING IN COMBINALTION A GATING SYSTEM HAVING A GROUP OF INPUTS AND A GROUP OF OUTPUTS, THE NUBMER OF INPUTS BEING THE SAME AS THE NUMBER OF OUTPUTS; A GROUP OF COMPLEMENTING STORAGE ELEMENTS EACH HAVING ONE INPUT AND ONE OUTPUT, THE NUMBER OF STORAGE ELEMENTS BEING THE SAME AS THE NUMBER OF GATING SYSTEM OUTPUTS; MEANS FOR CONNECTING EACH GATING SYSTEM OUTPUT TO THE INPUT OF A RELATED ONE OF SAID STORAGE ELEMENTS; MEANS FOR APPLYING A COUNT SIGNAL TO ONE OF SAID GATING SYSTEM INPUTS; AND MEANS FOR CONNECTING ALL BUT ONE OF THE STORAGE ELEMENT OUTPUTS TO THE REST OF SAID GATING SYSTEM INPUTS IN A 1-TO-1 CORRESPONDENCE. 